Vegetation water content retrieval using MERIS and AATSR data over the Loess Plateau

Vegetation water content is an important indicator of the degree of stress experienced by plants. This paper explored the potential of using the remote sensing data of MERIS (Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) and AATSR (Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer) collected during the Loess Plateau land surface process field Experiment 2005 (LOPEX05) to map and monitor vegetation water content for corn canopies. By comparing with the daily ground observation to validate the satellite reflectance data, we established relationships between the vegetation water content and satellite remotely sensed indices. The two indices studied were the NDVI (Normalized Different Vegetation Index) from MERIS and the NDWI (Normalized Different Water Index) from AATSR. We used the daily ground observation to demonstrate that the NDVI was saturated during the study period while the NDWI continued to reflect the changes in VWC. We found that NDWI, based on near infrared channel (0.855-0.875μm) and short wave infrared wavelength channel (1.58-1.64μm), is suggested to be more suitable and robust approach for retrieval of vegetation water content. The proposed method was validated with experimental field data with biases that are 1.0314 kg/m2 and 0.9413 kg/m2 respectively. Therefore the NDWI was recommended to retrieval the vegetation water content.     

Petrogenesis and Tectonic Significance of Shenxianshui Alkaline Granite in Gejiu, Yunnan Province, China

The Shenxianshui granites in the western Gejiu area were formed in the Late Cretaceous. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicates zircon U-Pb ages ranging from 90.67 ± 0.7 to 85.97 ± 0.6 Ma. The intrusive rocks are peraluminous (A/CNK = 1.03 to 1.33) and calc-alkaline, showing an affinity towards I-type granite. Large ion lithophilic elements are enriched in K and Rb, while high field strength elements are depleted. Moreover, light rare earth elements are significantly enriched, showing a slight negative Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* = 0.39 to 0.58). Shenxianshui granite has a relatively high initial Sr isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr)i (0.7098–0.7105), negative εNd(t) values (?7.99 to ?7.44) and negative εHf(t) values (?8.37 to ?2.58). Combined with previous studies, these characteristics suggest that the Shenxianshui alkaline granites were formed in a post-collision extensional environment. The alkaline granitic magma possibly originated from the partial melting of the lower crust during the Mesoproterozoic era and may have contained mantle source materials. Shenxianshui alkaline granite was formed from mixed magma with a high degree of crystal differentiation. The abundance of ore-forming elements indicates that Shenxianshui granite has the potential to mineralize key metals and rare earth elements.     

The Effect of Three Culture Methods on Intensive Culture System of Pacific White Shrimp （Litopenaeus vannama）

Different culture methods may affect the intensive culture system of Pacific white shrimp （Litopenaeus vannamei） re- garding water quality and growth and economic performance. This study evaluated the potential effects of three culture methods through cultivation of juvenile shrimps under consistent tank management conditions for 84 d. The three methods involved shrimp cultivation in different tanks, i.e., outdoor tanks with cement bottom （mode-C）, greenhouse tanks with cement bottom （mode-G） and outdoor tanks with mud-substrate （mode-M）. Results showed that water temperature was significantly higher in mode-G than that in mode-C （P 〈 0.05）. In contrast to the other two treatments, mode-M had stable pH after 50 d cultivation of shrimps. In the mid-late period, the average concentrations of TAN, NO2-N, DIP and COD were significantly lower in mode-M and mode-G compared with those in mode-C （P 〈0.05）. Despite lack of differences in the final shrimp weight among different treatments （P 〉0.05）, mode-M had significantly higher shrimp yield, survival rate and feed conversion rate （P 〈 0.05） than other modes. There were significant dif- ferences in revenue and net return among different treatments （P 〈 0.05）. These demonstrated that the treatments of mode-G and mode-M were conductive to the intensive culture system ofL. vannamei.     

Cloning and characterization of a thermostable carboxylesterase from inshore hot spring thermophile Geobacillus sp. ZH1

The gene(741 bp) encoding carboxylesterase from the thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus sp.ZHl was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli.The purified recombinant protein presented a molecular mass of about 40 kDa by SDS-PAGE analysis.Enzyme assays using p-nitrophenyl esters with different acyl chain lengths as the substrates confirmed its esterase activity,yielding highest specific activity with p-nitrophenyl acetate.Among the p-nitrophenyl esters tested,the carboxylesterase presented preference for p-nitrophenyl caprylate,but hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl butyrate more efficiently.When p-nitrophenyl butyrate was used as a substrate,the recombinant carboxylesterase exhibited highest activity at pH 8.0 and 60℃.Almost no decrease in esterase activity was observed at 60℃for 3 h,and over 40% of activity was still maintained after incubation at 90℃for 3 h.These results indicate that Geobacillus sp.ZH1 recombinant esterase was thermostable.The enzymatic activity was inhibited by the addition of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride,indicating that it contains serine residue,which plays a key role in the catalytic mechanism.Except SDS and xylene,this esterase showed stability toward other tested detergents and organic solvents.Cloning,expression,and biochemical characterization of Geobacillus sp.ZH1 carboxylesterase lay a good foundation for its structural characterization and industrial application.     

Distribution and Characteristics of Nitraria sphaerocarpa nebkhas in a Gobi habitat outside an oasis in Hexi Corridor region, China

Nitraria sphaerocarpa Maxim., a typical desert plant which often appears in nebkha form, is widely distributed along the periphery of oasis in arid regions of Northwest China, and plays an important role in desertification control around oases. In this paper, the characteristics and distribution patterns of N. sphaerocarpa nebkhas were investigated in a Gobi environment outside an oasis. Results shows that about 200 N. sphaerocarpa nebkhas per hectare was recorded and total sand sediments was 25 m³/ha. Nebkhas vary in size, and the mean height (H) and horizontal composition (L) were 15 cm and 80 cm, respectively. There exists a significant linear relationship between H and L, suggesting that the investigated nebkhas are mostly in the growth stage. The numbers, height and sand deposit of nebkhas decreased with increasing distance away from the oasis. Grain-size analysis indicates that the mean grain size of sediments at the crests of nebkhas increased with increasing nebkha height. Organic C and total N concentrations were related to the mean grain size. It was concluded that N. sphaerocarpa shrubs are efficient horizontal sand traps for wind-driven sediments. A better understanding of the development of nebkha can provide information for the design of biological sand control measures around oases in arid regions.     

Tectonic Evolution of the Tianhuan Depression and the Western Margin of the Late Triassic Ordos

Abstract: The Ordos Basin is one of the most important oil and gas basins in China. Based on surface outcrop, key exploratory wells and seismic reflection data and by using the technology of “prototype basin recovery”, seismic profile “layer flattening” and “restoration of balanced section”,and other methods, the sedimentary boundary, structure and the evolution history of the Tianhuan depression on the western margin of the Ordos Basin are reestablished. The following results have been obtained. (1) The west boundary of the Late Triassic Ordos Basin was far beyond the scope of the current basin. The basin is connected with the Late Triassic Hexi Corridor Basin, and its western margin did not have tectonic characteristics of a foreland basin. (2) The Tianhuan depression was first formed in the Late Jurassic. At the late stage it was impacted by the late Yanshanian and Himalayan tectonic movement and the depression axis gradually moved eastwards to the present location with a cumulative migration distance of ~30 km. (3) Eastward migration of the depression axis caused adjustment and even destruction of the originally formed oil and gas reservoirs, so that oil and gas remigrated and aggregated, resulting in secondary structural reservoirs formed at high positions on the western flank of the depression.     

Late Carboniferous-Early Permian Volcanic Event Deposits and Stratigraphic Correlation in Shandong Province and Its Adjacent Regions

Deposits of 10 volcanic events of 6 stages have been discovered by the authors after detailed field and lab studies of the Benxi and Taiyuan Formations in Shandong Province and its adjacent regions. They show certain temporal-spatial distribution characteristics. Volcanic fragments were probably derived from two different volcanic sources north and south of the North China Platform, while the magma of the two volcanic sources was probably derived from the lower crust. A new stratigraphic correlation scheme is put forward for the Benxi and Taiyuan Formations in this region on the basis of previous biostratigraphic work with the regionally widespread volcanic event layers as the marker bed for the isochronous stratigraphic correlation on a super-regional scale and in conjunction with the maximum transgressive event layers.     

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF UN-MEASURED BED LOAD AT DIVERSION INTAKES OF THE YELLOW RIVER IN SHANDONG PROVINCE

1 INTRODUCTION At present, most of the instruments used for sampling sediment loads at the canal intakes along the Yellow River in Shandong Province are horizontal samplers. These kinds of samplers cannot sample the suspended load 0.3 m from the riverbed. More recently use of bottle samplers has allowed sampling of the sediment load up to 0.1 m from the riverbed. However, bottle samplers are not able to measure suspended loads with high sediment concentrations and coarse sediment particl…     

A Hierarchical Method for Locating the Interferometric Fringes of Celestial Sources in the Visibility Data

In source detection in the Tianlai project, locating the interferometric fringe in visibility data accurately will influence downstream tasks drastically, such as physical parameter estimation and weak source exploration.Considering that traditional locating methods are time-consuming and supervised methods require a great quantity of expensive labeled data, in this paper, we first investigate characteristics of interferometric fringes in the simulation and real scenario separately, and integrat...